Eternal Darkness
by Rowzy
Summary: Alone, Kagome is attacked by one of Naraku's incarnations. However, this time is different – she is permanently blinded. Happening to come across her, Sesshomaru is stuck caring for the helpless Miko. Kagome must learn how to live her life again or risk falling into the darkness that clouds her.
1. Death

Much thanks to Kayelyn for all her help and suggestions. This is my first Inuyasha fic so I hope you guys like it…

Chapter 1: Death

When Sesshomaru found her, she was already dead.

He had been on his regular Naraku patrol, Rin and Jaken trailing behind with Ah-Un, when he caught the distinctive copper scent of human blood. Normally, he would simply walk on but this case was different. That was because this blood most definitely belonged to Inuyasha's Miko, and was mixed with the heavy scents of poison and Naraku.

So, out of pure curiosity of course, he found himself wandering towards the scent. When his little group arrived in the clearing, he immediately regretted not telling his ward to wait in the forest. For in the middle of the clearing lay the body of Miko the little girl so admired. What remained of her clothes was in shreds, but most had been melted by the potent poison that was spilled all over the clearing. Large holes were burned into the previous luscious grass where the poison had missed its target, but the effect on its target was even more startling.

Kagome's skin melted away under the poison's effect. Red, angry splatters covered her entire body, some the size of a coin, others larger than Sesshomaru's hand and still growing. She had died in pain.

"Kagome-sama!" Rin screeched as she took a flying leap off Ah-Uh to race to her friend's side. Sesshomaru merely looked on as she reached the young woman's side and began to shake her as if to wake her from a deep slumber. "Kagome-sama!" she cried again, becoming more and more frantic.

"Rin," Sesshomaru interfered with little more than his normal impassive tones, "you will cease your actions. The Miko is dead."

Rin did as he said – after all she could never disobey him – and slumped into a heap of crying child, rocking back and forth in an effort to keep herself from breaking even further. It all weighed down on her. She had lost her real mother when she was very young but now as she had just started to allow another mother figure into her life the Kamis decided to take her away her.

Sesshomaru, still watching from a short distance, reached for the old sword at his hip. _I am doing this simply because she is needed to defeat Naraku. I am not being manipulated by a child's tears, _he told himself. But the truth was Sesshomaru loved Rin like she was his child and could not watch the girl suffer when he could so easily rectify the problem. _I simply need to swing the sword, kill the underworld creatures then leave; _he lied to himself yet again.

From his first cursory glance at the girl's body he knew if he simply revived her and left she would only last a few minutes. Other than the damage from the poison that continued to spread, the angle her leg laid at told him it was broken, and there was undoubtedly more damage. No, he would be stuck nursing the girl for some time.

Some may have said that it would be courteous to leave the girl dead. She had already suffered, likely for a good amount of time, and if he brought her back she would continue to suffer for weeks… No, he corrected himself; she would likely suffer for the rest of her life. Even if the rest of the injuries healed perfectly – which was unlikely – one relatively small injury was sure to cause her continued plight. For, whoever caused these injuries had dripped a considerable amount of poison over her bright blue eyes. Sesshomaru thanked the gods that her eyelids were closed – although terribly burned by the poison themselves – since he was sure if they weren't Rin would have been traumatized by the sight. As it was, the other injuries were grotesque burns, similar what is caused by a strong acid, and would surely cause the little girl nightmares for a long time.

Sighing, Sesshomaru considered the best way revive the Miko. Unfortunately, by his best guess, she had already been dead for half a day, which meant that bringing the girl to his castle before reviving her in order to have the best medicine available, was not an option. She would have to be revived soon lest Tenseiga not work properly when he tried, so that meant reviving her close-by. And on the same note, he didn't dare take the time to begin to treat the poison to stop it from spreading; she would just have to suffer through the treatment once she was alive.

With an authoritative air, he moved forward and swept Kagome into his arms, leaving a startled Rin looking up at him. With not even a glance behind himself, he walked back into the trees, grabbing her surprisingly unharmed bag on the way.

Stopping what he deemed a suitable distance from clearing, he called out to Jaken as he set her down, nestling her between the roots of a tree.

"You will take Rin to the Western Palace, and have Ah-Un return carrying bandages."

"Of course, Sesshomaru-sama," rushed the kappa youkai. Soon he joined Rin on the back of the two headed dragon and took off towards the West.

This left the proud diayoukai alone with a very dead, very human woman in the middle of the forest.

AN: Reviews and suggestions about how to improve my writing are always appreciated.


	2. Life

Yay, time for the second chapter! I have to say, I _may _have squeed and done a small happy dance when I got my first reviews. So, if you want to make me really really happy, leave a review .

Thanks again to Kayelyn for all the help.

Chapter 2: Life

When Kagome woke up she immediately noticed a few odd things. First, she wasn't dead. Since the last thing she could remember was laying a field dying, this fact thoroughly confused her, but she wrote it off to evaluate later when her head didn't hurt so damn much.

Which brought her to thinking about how damn much the rest of her hurt. It wasn't the normal stiff muscle worked too hard the day before pain. No, this was been ran over by a truck, and then said truck decided to run you over again, pain. It was radiating, blinding pain that she couldn't distract herself from no matter how hard she tried.

The third thing she noticed was actually a combination of many things once her senses kicked in. One, she was covered in a soft silk blanket that very definitely wasn't hers and that she was resting against an unnaturally comfortable, fluffy body pillow. And two, that it was very, very dark outside.

Gritting her teeth and letting out a long sigh, she moved to get up but as a thousand jolts of pain shot up her body, she decide that staying in her fluffy forest bed a little bit longer wouldn't be so bad. Which reminded her that somebody must have put her here, because she sure as hell didn't.

"Inuyasha?" She rasped, her throat dry from sleep, out into the silent darkness, trying to keep her voice down in fear of attracting any unwanted visitors.

"Hn," intoned a vaguely familiar voice, "that half-breed is nowhere to be found Miko."

The second half of his statement confirmed her suspicions. The Western Lord himself was nearby, although since it was so darn dark she couldn't tell where.

She didn't fear Sesshomaru so much anymore, not since Rin had started to take a liking to her at least. One of the many times that their groups had crossed in their search for Naraku, maybe a two months ago or so, Shippo's coloring book that she had haphazardly stashed in her bag went tumbling out. Rin, being the polite girl she is, picked up the little book for Kagome, but couldn't help but admire the colorful drawings as she did. After a short explanation, Rin couldn't help but ask to try. And so from then on it seemed like Sesshomaru's group would run into them more often – 'accidentally' of course – and would allow his ward to spend some time to be educated in the ways of human women as he put it.

In all these visits, Sesshomaru rarely talked, he simply sat leaning up against a tree in his signature pose – arm draping over a bent knee – and stared intently at Rin. However, since Rin spent all the time she could with Kagome, she couldn't help but let his stare unnerve her. In spite of this, she never got the vibe that the lord who previously tried to kill her would ever try again.

So, lying in the clearing, horribly injured, with Sesshomaru somewhere nearby didn't scare her as much as it probably should have. Maybe she would have been if she wasn't in too much pain and too damn thirsty to care.

"Water?" She could barely get the one word out threw her dry, scratchy throat.

"There is tea near your right hand, or do you need me to wait on you as well?"

Tapping around in the darkness, she found a slightly chilled cup of green tea. Little did Kagome know that Sesshomaru had added medicinal plants that acted as painkillers. He had sensed her waking from her long slumber and in anticipation of her whining about being in pain, had brewed a strong tea and included the medicine. The medicine would quickly reduce her pain and hopefully eventually make her sleepy. He didn't know how long he would be able to stand her.

Drinking the tea, Kagome went back to thinking about what had bugging her when she first woke up. She needed to do something to distract herself from the pain, so she decided turn to her favorite distractor – talking. "I could have sworn I was dead. I mean, I didn't see any 'light at the end of the tunnel' or my father or anything, but it was like one minute I was here, alive, and the next I wasn't. Do you know what I mean? I guess you don't, huh, saying you're alive and all, but I am too…" she trailed off.

"You were." Kagome jumped at Sesshomaru's voice, it was much _much_ closer now and she hadn't heard so much as the crunch of a leaf.

"I was what? _Dead?_ But that's not possible, people don't simply return from the dead," _and you would never use your father's heirloom to revive a mere human, _she finished in her head.

"Hn."

Kagome waited for him to elaborate but he never did and so they fell into silence once again. Though knowing Kagome, it wouldn't stay quiet for very long. Lo and behold, only a minute later Kagome was fidgeting nervously, trying to hold back a stream of questions.

At first he ignored it, after all she was human, and she couldn't be as perfect as him. But when she started clacking her nails together, an annoying purely human habit, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Speak," he commanded.

"Huh?"

"This one knows that you have something to ask, so speak or cease your actions."

"Oh um… its nothing. Just uh… why no fire? I mean, it's so dark – being the new moon and all," she spit out. It wasn't really the most pressing question she had, but it was the most annoying, so out it went.

"Miko, there is a fire only a few strides in front of you. Can you not hear it? Smell it? Or have you lost your weak human sense of smell as well?"

Although taken aback at his rude response to her question, she took a moment to consider what he said. _He says there is a fire, but he could be lying simply to disorient me. But why would he do that? He brought me back to life for heaven's sake! No, he's right, I can smell the smoke from the fire and the roasting of meat, I just wasn't paying attention before. But why can't I see it? Why can't I see _anything?

Then flashes. Trying to fire an arrow. Getting knocked down. A new incarnation. Acid-like poison.

Then pain, pain, pain. Pure, white, radiating pain, and she remembered everything that happened.


	3. Shirtless

Thanks again for the reviews, I'm glad you guys are liking this so far. Please continue to leave reviews so I know how I'm doing. I probably won't update this often for very long, but I will try to update once or twice a week at the least. Oh and, thank you Kayelyn for all the help.

Chapter 3: Shirtless

Sesshomaru had smelled the confusion, then panic, pain and finally fear spike as she worked through what was going on. He could have simply told her, but he was already doing so much for her. She had to do _some things_ on her own.

Ignoring the pain in her arms, Kagome frantically reached for her eyes only to find out that they had been bandaged. In her blind panic, Kagome moved to search for her bag, her pure desperation overriding the pain from her injuries. She knew she had to have her trusty antidote that seemed to work for every poison they ran across in the Feudal Era. She had to get it. Now. The sooner she got it, the more likely that it would work.

"You will cease your actions Miko," but the authoritative command fell on deaf ears. Her only thought was to get to the antidote as quick as possible so she could continue on the hunt for the shikon no tama and Naraku.

"Where's my pack? Need my pa – aaahhhh," her sentence was abruptly cut off as Sesshomaru firmly pinned her to the ground, only taking care not to exasperate her injuries. He captured her left arm with one hand, and with the other pinned her body so she could no longer try to squirm away.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Get off me!" Reaching up she went to push him away – not that it would do any good – but quickly stopped when she realized her hand was touching very muscular, very bare skin. And now that she thought about it, his hand was touching her bare stomach as well.

"Why aren't you wearing a kimono? Why aren't _I_ wearing a shirt? Or rather why aren't I wearing _anything!_" With this she reached up to slap him across his face, but her hand was only met with empty air. "Argh! Where are you so I can hit you? LET GO OF ME!"

"I am stopping you from reversing the efforts this one has taken to heal you. I will only release you if you still yourself…" with that, she stopped fighting, and as promised he released her, but didn't back away in case she started again. "As for your states of dress – your… scraps of fabric were melted by the poison and ruined. However, if it will make you cease your squirming, I will let you know that your chest is bound with bandages; you are showing barely more skin than you normally do. As to the location of my kimono, it is a handbreadth away from your arm where it fell off of you when you started this nonsense."

_He used his kimono as a blanket for me… but why? Why stain his royal garb with the filth of humanity?_ Patting around her left hand, she located the kimono and pulled it back over herself in a futile attempt to preserve her modesty.

Once she thought about it, she couldn't remember the stoic lord ever saying so much in her presence before. He would occasionally demand something of her – an explanation of something he didn't recognize or of Rin wellbeing – but never did he offer long answers to questions she asked. He rarely even answered her questions at all. "Why are you even talking to me?" she inquired, thoroughly distracted from her original intentions.

"Would you have stilled yourself if This One hadn't answered your questions? Hn… I think not little Miko."

"Oh umm… Thanks?" Not having anything else to say to this, Kagome returned to her thoughts.

She was blind and she _hurt_. She never thought it would've happened to her. Inuyasha had always been there to help her – new moon or not – but the one time he hadn't she had been grievously injured. _Go figure, _she grumbled internally, _I guess he was right all along. My silly little powers are nothing compared to Kikyo. She would never have allowed this to happen to her. _Unfortunately, these thoughts brought her back to her pain which was nagging at the back of her head.

"Where is my bag? There is an antidote in my bag that has worked for Naraku's poisons before," she asked, suddenly remembering why she started this in the first place.

"Your bag is nearby."

"Where?"

"No human antidote will cure what I have been unable to."

"This is isn't any ordinary antidote! It's worked for Naraku's poison before. Just give me my bag dammit!"

"The poison is no longer spreading; all that is left is the damage that it has caused. This Sesshomaru used a little known but highly effective antidote to stop the poison and speed the healing process. The quicker you heal, the sooner I can be rid of you."

"Gee, thanks. I know I hurt like hell, but mind telling me why?"

"You were attacked. Even a simpleton such as yourself should have been able to figure that out."

"Argh! That's not what I meant! How badly am I hurt? What's the damage?"

Sesshomaru smirked at this. He knew that it wasn't what she meant, but he was enjoying riling up the little miko. Or, at the very least it was better than her whining or incessant fidgeting.

"Your eyes are ruined, and you have many other acid burns, but the exterior wounds have already started to heal. Your leg however, will not be usable for some time."

Kagome's leg was in fact broken. Sesshomaru had taken the time to set the bone and splint it while she slept. She would be useless if she couldn't walk properly. Of course, she would be just as useless without her sight. Although a powerful Miko, Sesshomaru knew that Kagome's powers didn't encompass much more than channeling her reiki into arrows. Without her sight, this ability would no longer be helpful. After all, a human couldn't hit a target if they couldn't see it. Maybe it would have been better to leave her dead…

If he had, Sesshomaru would not have been stuck with the tedious task of caring for helpless human female. But he was, and couldn't let her simply die again after using Tenseiga to revive her.


	4. Scents

I hope you guys are enjoying the frequent updates. Thanks for the reviews, and please continue to leave them (and if you haven't left one yet, please do!). Thanks Kayelyn for all the help!

Chapter 4: Scents

Before Kagome had a chance to respond to this, Sesshomaru interrupted her thoughts, "your human stench offends This One. You must bathe then I will tend to your wounds." Not giving her a chance to protest he picked her up – kimono and all, although it would have fallen off if she hadn't grabbed it reflexively – and started walking to the hot spring that he could smell a short distance away.

On his way out of camp he grabbed the infamous yellow pack. During one of Rin's many visits the Miko had taken his ward for a bath. Once they had returned, both smelled pleasantly of unfamiliar things. When the curious inuyoukai inquired – he knew of the most expensive soaps but never had smelled such a thing before – she had explained that it was called 'shampoo', 'conditioner' and 'strawberry body wash', items made by her people that lived very far away. He could only hope that her pack still contained these items.

He was lucky that there was a nearby hot spring, it was still early spring and the streams were still much too cold for human bathing. The inuyoukai didn't even want to think about what he would have done if he didn't have the chance to bathe her.

And that's what it would be of course – him bathing her. She wouldn't be able to stand on her own nor be able to see to remove the bandages and wash carefully around the still open wounds. It was either do a servant's job or live with her stench for an immeasurable amount of time. The answer was simple really.

Only a few minutes later they arrived at their destination. She had stopped trying to fight him. When all was said and done, she knew she could never overpower him, injured or not. He was a daiyoukai and she was an untrained human Miko. The most she could do was give him a zap or offend his senses.

She was jostled from her thoughts as she was set down against a rock, the soil damp against her skin. She could hear the sound of the zipper on her bag and the clattering of its contents as Sesshomaru looked through it for her bath products. Recognizing three sickeningly pink bottles, he grabbed them, quickly giving them a sniff to confirm that they were indeed what he had smelled before.

Kagome could hear Sesshomaru moving about this time. She didn't know if perhaps she was simply paying more attention to her other senses or if it was because he was purposely making more noise - _ but why would he do that _– either way it was more comforting to have a clue as to what was going on.

When Sesshomaru returned to her side, he spoke yet again, "You will hand over this one's kimono."

"What? No!" There was no way she was going to give the only thing covering her over so easily.

"Hn," was his only response before grabbing the kimono and deftly plucking it out of her hands.

With an indignant squeak, she attempted to cover her bandaged chest. "How could you do that? Pervert!"

"This one does not need to explain himself to you, but think about it Miko. Who do you think placed these bandages on you in the first place? Your body isn't anything I haven't already seen, nor is it anything that I wish to see."


	5. Stripped

Hey guys. I know these chapters a short, but can you please try to leave reviews to let me know how I'm doing? Even a two word review is better than nothing, and if you leave a longer review, I will try to reply to it. So, _please review!_

Thanks again to Kayelyn for all the help.

Chapter 5: Stripped

She was so startled by this revelation that all she could do was sputter in response "Wha- hu- you… Gahhh!"

She needed a minute to figure out what she thought about he said. He had very obviously admitted to see her naked, and if his actions were any indication he planned to do it again. At the same time he had attempted to comfort her worries by insulting her looks. It shouldn't really matter if he liked what he saw – no man had ever seen her naked before, so why should he get the right to?

If Sesshomaru was going to be a jerk every time a word left his mouth, then Kagome decided she just wouldn't talk to him. Maybe it would be for the better anyways.

Kagome didn't know why he was taking care of her, simply that when she had awoken, the inuyoukai was there. Maybe if she pissed him off enough he would simply leave her alone. But that would be a very, very bad idea. Even though he was being an ass, he was keeping her from dying alone in the forest, either from her injuries, starvation, or getting killed. She would just have to keep reminding herself of that, or she might just go crazy before she was well enough to be free of him. Not to mention that even though her pain was getting better, she still hurt too much to put up much of a fight.

Did caring for her give him the right to do as he wished with her? Not at all, but as long as he was trying to heal her so they could go their separate ways, she would let him do what he wanted… within reason. Anyways, surely he wouldn't be caring for her just to take advantage of her. He was a powerful daiyoukai, he hated humans. He just somehow got stuck with the task, and was doing the honorable thing so she didn't die.

She was so lost in her thoughts she _almost_ didn't notice when he started removing the bandages after washing his kimono and laying it out to dry. But she _did _notice so she reached out to slap him yet again… only to have her hand caught before it made contact with anything. Just because she had decided to not argue with him, didn't mean she could stop her natural reaction to somebody trying to remove now the only thing covering her.

"Unless you would like your wounds to fester, This One recommends you let me remove the bandages," at that he dropped her hand and moved again to untie one of the bandages on her arms. He would start with the less private areas; although he couldn't figure out what her issue was, surely it was obvious he was doing this only to ensure she would heal well enough to attempt to continue on the hunt. He didn't want to do this anymore than she did.

He made a pile of the bandages on the rock, moving from her left arm to her right, revealing the multitudes of poison burns. While his treatment was working to heal them faster, he was sure that the wounds would leave large scars. Not that he cared. Already new, pink, thin but leathery skin began to ring the edges of the larger wounds, and almost completely covered the smaller ones.

Next he moved to her head, removing the solitary bandage that covered her eyes. "Do not attempt to open your eyes," he warned, before completely removing the bandage. The skin here was healing slower than the rest, most likely due to a heavier dose of the poison. It had taken more of his antidote to stop the poison from spreading than the other areas. But the damage was done. Her eyes, once strikingly blue were horribly mutilated. Even if her eyes began to recover he wasn't sure her eyelids would ever open fully again.

Turning his attention to his legs, he started with her unbroken right, removing the bandages from her ankle first then moving up. He could hear her heartbeat speed up along with the pervasive scent of nervousness as he moved higher up her leg.

He did the same with her left leg, leaving only the bandages that were holding the splint in place.

_God, I'm almost glad he's being a jerk about this. I'm not sure what I would do if somebody I actually liked was unwinding bandages only inches from my panties… Still it's nerve-wracking. I've never had anybody so close before, _her mind then wandering to Inuyasha_._

_Sometimes I wished that Inuyasha had been… close… with me, but I guess it's for the better that he wasn't. Kikyo was his first love; I should have never expected him to pick me over her. Anyways, if I hadn't been so bitter about everything maybe I wouldn't have wandered away from the group… Maybe if I was strong like Kikyo, and not a wimpy girl on the sidelines… Maybe I wouldn't have brought this on myself. _So thoroughly distracted by her thoughts she hadn't noticed when Sesshomaru started to remove the bandage over her chest.

The damage had been extensive there, especially across her breasts. Her assailant must have had some perverted fantasies – blinding her then spattering her with poison, especially across her breasts and upper thighs. Or maybe he simply wished to scar her body so no man would ever want her again…

Unfortunately, she was now distracted from her distraction at the worst possible moment and thus her nervousness increased tenfold. As the bandage was peeled away a spider shaped burn was visible, with its torso placed between her breasts and the legs extending over them. The attacker had marked her as Naraku's.


	6. Bath Time

To everybody that left reviews: I love you guys! This chapter was really bugging me, so please let me know what you think

Thank you Kayelyn for all the help!

Chapter 6: Bath Time

Once the bandage was fully removed she attempted to cover her chest with her arms. Sesshomaru smirked at her ridiculous attempt at decency. She knew he had already seen all of her, so why did she still attempt to cover herself up? Chalking it up as a human idiosyncrasy, Sesshomaru refused to pay it any more attention to it than he already had.

Instead, he turned away from her and reached for the bottles of soap that sat nearby. With a scowl, he realized he couldn't remember which one was which. He of course remembered her long winded explanation that 'shampoo' was for cleaning hair, 'conditioner' was for making it soft, and 'body wash' was for cleaning dirt off your body, he just couldn't remember which bottle contained which.

Starting with what he did know, he gave each bottle a quick sniff, recalling that 'body wash' contained the strongest scent. With a scowl – a direct whiff of the products was almost too strong for his nose – he identified the largest bottle as body wash.

The other two bottles looked and smelled similar so he took a wild guess. Anyways, both were used for hair, so he supposed it wouldn't really matter in the long run. Or at least, it wasn't important enough that he reduce himself to inquiring about female things.

Without a word, he picked her up again and slipped into the water. Kagome let out a little eep at this, the warm water on her legs stinging and startling her. Even though Kagome had decided to go along with what Sesshomaru was doing for now, it didn't mean that she wasn't already getting sick of being picked up without warning

Sesshomaru held her bridal style against his bare chest, with only her legs dangling in the water. The hot spring was shallow enough that Sesshomaru could easily stand on the bottom, but Kagome couldn't have.

He shifted Kagome so her back was pressed against his front – she let out a hiss of pain at this as more of her wounds were submerged in the water – with one arm around her torso supporting her. Her legs brushed up against his hakama as she steadied herself; personally he would have preferred to take them off, but he knew she wouldn't have cooperated if he had.

_Guh. Couldn't he have figured out a way to do this so we weren't touching so much? Who would've thought he would have so much contact with a mere human._

She squirmed against him, trying to loosen his uncomfortable hold. Instead, he tightened his grip and warned "hold your breath," before dunking them under the water.

When they reemerged Kagome was sputtering and gasping for breath. "What…," she paused, still breathless, "…was that for asshole?!" she finished.

Not feeling the need to justify her question with an answer the stoic lord hummed a "Hn" before walking to the rock that held the bottles of bath products.

Not sure how much to use, he squirted a large amount of shampoo into his hand and began to work it into Kagome's long black hair. He used his nails to work the dirt and stench from her scalp before working further down her hair. With a smirk of amusement he noted that Kagome was letting out a soft purring sound, similar to a contented feline.

Kagome had to admit that even though he was being an asshole, having her hair washed felt really, really good. She fell into a trance-like state, allowing his actions to calm her and the exhaustion to take over.

Her relaxation didn't last long, however, before Sesshomaru advised "Hold your breath," breaking her out of her trance. This time she heeded his warning immediately, not wanting a repeat of what happened before.

Dunking them under the water again, Sesshomaru worked her hair until all the tinged brown suds washed out. He resurfaced when he finished, noting satisfactorily that she was already smelling better.

The daiyoukai knew that she wouldn't cooperate as well for the next part, as repositioned her so her body was out of the water yet again. He grabbed the bottle of body wash, and for lack of a spare hand, squeezed it right onto her body.

"Huh? No! I can wash myself, thank-you-very-much," she protested while batting his hand away, thankfully making contact with it this time.

"Unless you would like to worsen your injuries, you will let This One do as he wishes," Sesshomaru reprimanded.

Deciding to think _really_ hard about other things seemed like the best option to Kagome. For lack of a better option she started going over her math equations in her head. _Not that I'll be doing homework for a while…_ she added mentally.

Taking her slumping in his arms as an agreement to cooperate, he started by rubbing the soap into her belly then moved upwards. He felt her stiffen as his hand reached just under her breasts, and her heartbeat sped up even faster. Not wanting to hear her complaints yet again, he worked quickly over her breasts, although she nearly jumped out of his arms as he washed over one nipple than the other. If she was a demonness he would have found this reaction highly entertaining, but since she was simply human all it earned was a fleeting smirk that nobody could see.

Finishing with her upper body, he moved onto her legs. Earning similar protests as he moved up her legs, he hurried his task along. Even working as quickly as he was, he could smell her nervousness and embarrassment as he washed her, even though she was trying her best to hide it.

With another warning to hold her breath, he dunked them under the water yet again, letting the soap wash off on its own.

Done bathing her, he sat her on one of the rocks that lined the hot spring, her feet dangling in the water. Kagome, glad to have her own personal space again, was enjoying the feeling of the hot water on her feet even if the surrounding air was chilly.

Jumping out of the water, Sesshomaru landed a few feet away from Kagome. Undoing the ties, he peeled of his drenched hakama and fundoshi. He couldn't help but think about how Kagome would react if she knew he was butt naked only a short distance away. Her reaction would most likely be… interesting to say the least.

Wringing out his clothes and setting them out next to his kimono, he turned his attention back to a shivering Kagome.

"C-c-c-old," her teeth chattered as she spoke. Although the hot spring was well… hot, the contrast between the midday spring air and the water on her feet chilled her. Not to mention that she was still drenched.

"P-pack?" She inquired, not able to say much more through the chattering of her teeth. If she remembered correctly she had stowed a fluffy towel in her trusty backpack. She prayed that it was still there, it would give her something to cover herself with – she so desperately wanted a little privacy at this point – as well as provide warmth.

"You are practically touching it, Miko. Maybe you attempt to locate things before you inquire of their location, unless your blindness has made you lazy," Sesshomaru snapped. He was really getting tired of this taking care of a human business, and she had only been awake for a short while. He dreaded the days to come, when she would undoubtedly become whiny and restless.

On the other hand, something inside him told the daiyoukai that he was being unfair. How was she to know that she was right by her pack? She had been blind for less than one day, surely even a youkai with heightened senses would require longer than that to adjust. That didn't stop him from being annoyed at her dependence, however.

Groping around her, sure enough Kagome found her pack near her right side, just as Sesshomaru had said. Feeling around the bag, she located the top handle and pulled it up next to her so she could open it up without risking spilling the contents into the hot spring.

Feeling around the bag, she located the zipper then traced it with her finger to pinpoint the zipper pull. Pulling it open, she shoved her hand inside and immediately hit pay dirt. She removed the towel, and then closed the zipper, giving herself a mental pat on the back for doing it perfectly all by herself.

Afraid of hurting herself by scraping the towel across the wounds, she instead draped the towel over her shoulders like a shawl, holding it together in the front. She knew it wasn't covering her completely but at least it was a little more cover from any unwelcome eyes.

Donning his slightly less damp hakama, Sesshomaru gathered up his fundoshi and kimono – he had no desire to put on damp fundoshi – along with the bandages and bath products before shoving everything unceremoniously into her bag. The elegant, half naked, daiyoukai threw the bag over his shoulder before picking her up once again without a word. Even at this distance, he couldn't smell any remainder of the odor that had clung to her earlier.

"Oh my god, would giving a girl a little _warning _before you pick her up really kill you?!" She grumped. Kagome was more than a little pissed at not being able to get around on her own, and his treating her like she was little more than a doll to be tossed around at his leisure was just making her angrier.

Sesshomaru enlightened her with a quick "Hn," before taking off back towards their camp.


	7. Betrayal

Please keep up the amazing reviews guys. I really appreciate them.

As always, thanks to Kayelyn for all the help!

**Chapter 7: Betrayal**

Once the strange pair was back in their camp and Kagome resituated in her fluffy bed, they fell into a not companionable, but not all-together awkward, silence.

Sesshomaru always preferred silence, so this wasn't an issue for him. In fact, he was grateful that his impromptu patient was actually being still _and _quiet, a feat he thought impossible for her until now. Especially saying she was still completely naked, save for the cloth that she wrapped around herself and her small scrap of underclothes.

He was only waiting for the right moment to treat and bandage Kagome's wounds anyways. He knew if he did it too soon after the bath, there was no chance in her cooperation. On the other hand, he couldn't wait too long or there was a chance the burns would get dirty. If her wounds weren't kept clean, she would get sick and he would be stuck with her longer.

Kagome on the other hand, didn't like the silence but she was too caught up running over the events of the day of the attack in her mind to even notice. Since she had remembered the events shortly after she awoke, she hadn't been able to get them out of her mind.

_It was just before sunset on the night of the new moon; Kagome's group was full of unrest. _

_Kikyo had appeared only minutes before, asking to speak to Inuyasha in private. She had been doing that a lot lately, and Inuyasha didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to always return from their private excursions in a better mood than when he had left. She could only guess at what they were up to when they were out of ear shot._

_So, of course, Kagome was pissed off. Even though she had long since stopped loving Inuyasha – she had matured over the years and he had not – it still stung to watch him run off with another woman. To make it all worse, the search for Naraku was going nowhere, Inuyasha wasn't really even trying anymore, and now when he took off with Kikyo he hadn't gone quite out of earshot._

_And they could hear _everything _that was going on._

_In a fit of rage, Kagome stood up from where she sat near the fire with her companions and stormed off into the forest, instinctively snatching her bow, quiver, and backpack as she left the camp. It wasn't the first time Kagome had ran away to find some peace, so Miroku, Sango, and Shippo left her to be._

_It was several hours past sundown when Kagome realized something was wrong. Or rather, two somethings that combined into one very large, very bad something. First off, Inuyasha never came searching for her. He _always _came for her when she ran away, even if he had been with Kikyo. Secondly, it had been several minutes since she saw or heard the last sign of life in the normally lively forest. And that could only spell trouble._

_She nocked an arrow, but continued moving forward. She wouldn't be able to aim properly in such a dark, dense forest. Only seconds later she came across a large clearing._

_Sensing something behind her, she twirled around, arrow ready to fire but before she had a chance her attacker broke her bow, and sent it flying across the clearing._

Kagome was abruptly broken from her thoughts by her growling stomach. Now that her stomach bothered to tell her, she realized that she wasn't just a little hungry. She was so hungry she could eat a horse. Or maybe a cow. Or a deer. Or something, anything really.

The point was, she was starved and could only pray that Sesshomaru was feeling magnanimous enough to catch and prepare her food. She didn't know what she would do if he wasn't. Maybe eat him instead? She couldn't help but to giggle at this.

Deciding that she would ask her begrudging caretaker about other food before she resorted to cannibalism – _is it cannibalism if he's a youkai? _– she called out to him, not knowing exactly where he was at this point, "Um… Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Hn." It turned out Sesshomaru was a fair distance from her, propped up against a tree on the other side of the fire. He had heard her stomach growling and light laughter, and surmised that her question would pertain to one of these.

Taking his answer as permission to speak, Kagome asked, "Is there any food?"

"Yes," Sesshomaru answered, not supplying any further information than was purely asked for.

"Is it done cooking?"

"Yes."

"Can I have some?"

"Yes."

"Can you say _anything _other than yes?"

"Yes," he lifted an eyebrow at this question, wondering how long it would take her to ask him to bring the food to her.

"Where is it then?" she asked, this time choosing a question that could be in no way answered with a yes.

"Near the fire," the lord replied, this time giving a slightly longer answer.

Grumbling, she knew he wasn't going to say anything else at this point, so she went to move her suddenly mostly painless body towards where she could hear the fire. The fact that movement didn't immediately cause her pain raised Kagome's suspicions but at the moment getting food was the most important thing. The lack of pain was helping her accomplish her goal, so she wasn't going to question it right now.

Sesshomaru watched on, bemused, as Kagome attempted to scoot to the fire while keeping her cloth wrapped around herself. She started by pushing herself with her arms while using her uninjured leg to pull herself forward. When this didn't work, she started to turn over so she could crawl to the fire, but didn't get far into this maneuver before Sesshomaru interfered.

"Stop." he commanded, he was pleased that she obeyed immediately. She was capable of learning what was expected of her, something that might come in handy later.

"You will burden this one even more if you exasperate your injuries. I will bring you your meal if you agree that under no circumstances will you argue while I treat your injuries," he bargained. Of course, he could have simply held her down while he tended to her wounds, but this way would be easier.

Nodding in agreement, Kagome settled into a sitting position while Sesshomaru grabbed the rabbit from the fire. He broke off a chunk of meat and handed it to her, smelling her disappointment as he did.

"You have been asleep for several days, Miko. If you eat too much you will make yourself sick, and that would be unpleasant for the both of us," he explained, assuming her disappointment was over the small portion.

Kagome swallowed before replying – she figured Sesshomaru would not appreciate her speaking with her mouth full, "Several days?" She had the feeling of oversleeping but she figured that she might have slept for a little more than half a day, not several days. How had she not noticed her hunger before now if this was the case?

"That is what I said, is it not?"

"But then where is Inuyasha? He should have found me by now!" Her voice rose as she spoke, confusion turning into panic.

"Why should I know the location of that half breed?" he snapped back.

The tone of his last answer startled her and since she didn't want to infuriate him and lose her protector, she finished her small meal in silence.

She didn't understand why Sesshomaru had reacted so strongly to her question. Sure, the half-brothers disliked each other, but wouldn't he want to return her to Inuyasha? The quicker he was located, the sooner Sesshomaru was free.

"You may have more after I treat your wounds," he stated as she licked her fingers of the juices. Then, getting down to business, he ordered her to lie down so he could do just that.

When she complied, he kneeled beside her, picked up her arm and proceeded to lick her.


	8. Doggy Kisses

Yay, longest chapter yet! Actually, the chapters are getting longer in general but I doubt they will ever be super long. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. Kayelyn helped me a lot on this one, so a big thanks to her.

As always, thank you for the reviews, and please review!

**PLEASE READ:** Remember, this is a M rated fic. While this isn't a lemon (and I will probably never write one), you have been warned that there is a reason this fic is rated M.

**Chapter 8: Doggy Kisses**

"What the _fuck _do you think you're doing?!" She yelled, trying to yank her hand from Sesshomaru's grasp.

"Treating your wounds," he answered with the truth.

"By licking me," she supplied.

"This one's saliva contains a small amount of poison in this form which can be used to counteract other poisons and prevent wounds from festering. This also allows wounds to heal faster," he explained.

"I don't care! There is no way in hell you are going to _lick _me."

"I already have, Miko. Without it you would have died, again."

_So I guess he really did use Tenseiga to revive me but then he licked me while I slept?! Ew!, _she thought, before returning to yelling at him. "You don't just lick a girl without her permission!"

"Hoh, but this one has your permission. You agreed to let me treat you without argument if I supplied you with food. This one gave you food, so now you will keep your end of the bargain," Sesshomaru reasoned, ignoring the fact that he already had licked her without her consent.

_Ah, shit. I can't just back down on my end of the bargain… can I?_ She mulled it over. She considered herself an honest person, and tried not to go back on her word if she could help it. If she backed out now, she might lose some of Sesshomaru's trust. _Nope, guess not. Plus, it can't be worse than my wounds getting infected…_

She grumbled her submission and hmphed before relaxing the arm that he still held.

Turning his attention back to her wounds, he held her arm up once again and slowly dragged his tongue over the first burn. He made sure not to miss any spots as he worked his way up her arm to her shoulder.

Kagome couldn't help but draw parallels between what Sesshomaru was currently doing and an overly enthusiastic dog. She pictured him in his true form, giving her 'doggy kisses' as her friends called them. She did her best to hold back her laughter, but her imagination kept supplying the crazy image.

Ignoring Kagome's slightly hysterical state, he contemplated the best order to go about what he was doing. He decided on going simply going from left to right, rather than leaving the most private injuries for last, since it would be the most efficient. So, for ease of access, he swung his leg over her body, and leaned down to treat the next injury.

_Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. I'm being _straddled _by Sesshomaru. And… _she jumped as licked between her breasts, her whole body tensing, _he is licking my boobs. What universe am I in?_

Sesshomaru worked slowly over the torso of the spider that was etched into her chest. The poison had been used heavily there, causing the burns to carve deeper into her skin than the other areas. This also meant that he had to spend extra time to make sure the wound would receive enough of his saliva to speed its healing.

As he leaned over her, his hair draped over her body, pooling on the ground beside her. The shifting hairs tickled her sensitive skin, but the repetitive, intimate, motion of his licking distracted her from the sensation.

The strange mixture of pain from the pressure on the burns, and dare she think, _pleasure?,_ confused her. He was doing this solely to heal her and she was under no circumstances interested in him. _There is no way I'm enjoying this, _she tried to convince herself.

He started in the center, with the body of the spider, licking outwards, working his way to the jagged legs that circled over her breasts, but not yet leaving the body.

At this point she was so tense he had to stop to a moment before he moved on; her hands were in fists, her fingers digging into the palm of her hand. He could smell the distinctive scent of freshly spilled blood.

"Relax," he instructed, leaning up from his stooped position. When that didn't work, he tried another tactic, "We have already gone over this, Miko. I will not hurt you, nor am I doing this for pleasure. Your wounds must be healed. This is strictly business."

His second statement seemed to have worked. Kagome relaxed her fists and took a long, deep breath before exhaling and giving him a sharp nod.

He returned to where he left off, starting at the base of the upper right leg, he traced it along the upper swell of her breast. He stopped where it did, along the side of her breast with a small flick upwards towards her shoulder.

Next he turned his attention to the lower leg, which almost met up with the upper as it circled her breast. He started at the end, a sharp tip that pointed downwards towards her hip, perfectly symmetrical to the upper leg. This time, he followed it along the lower swell of her breast to where it joined the body.

Kagome tensed once again, the feelings of Sesshomaru's tongue wreaked havoc on her already frazzled emotional state. She tried, really she did, but she couldn't help but be turned on by his attentions, as innocent as they were.

One short leg remained on the right side. It stuck out from the center of the body and quickly zigzagged down the middle of her breast to where it stopped just before her nipple. Again, he traced the leg with his tongue, this time using extra care not to go past where the leg ended.

Flushed with embarrassment, she turned her face away, refusing to let him see that she was affected by him, any more than he already could.

He did the same for the mirrored left as he did the right, moving as quickly as possible while still making sure it would be effective. He was pretty sure if he didn't finish when he did, she would have passed out from holding her breath.

Sesshomaru repressed a smirk at her antics, already knowing what she tried to hide. He had felt her body shiver, her skin heat under his ministrations, her scent become heavier, spicier with her arousal tinged with embarrassment. Oddly, he could find no disgust at this knowledge.

A fourth set of longer legs were connected to the spider's lower abdomen, following her ribs before disappearing behind her back in a sick embrace. These, however, had healed significantly faster than everything else and were already almost completely scarred over.

Sesshomaru repositioned himself so he was sitting next to her side before grabbing her right arm and continuing with his work. He started with the wrist again, moving up towards her shoulder. This arm was mostly spared of large injuries, but instead was spattered with smaller injuries that were already healing over and didn't need his attention.

So he made quick work of her right arm and moved on to her eyes. Here the skin was in the worst condition; the poison had been applied liberally and the skin didn't seem to be healing at all yet.

As Sesshomaru moved to bend over her, his hair cascaded down his shoulder and covered Kagome's mouth and nose.

"Mmph," Kagome protested before Sesshomaru gathered up his long silver locks and looped them over his right shoulder where they pooled at his side.

Starting over, Sesshomaru bent over once again and began his ministrations on the injuries that surrounded her eyes.

_Oh great, now he's licking my face… like a dog… and it tickles, _Kagome mused. She was pretty sure if he could hear her thoughts, she would be dead all over again.

Seeing Kagome's eyelids begin to flutter, Sesshomaru momentarily stopped his actions and quietly, keeping in mind his proximity to her ears, reminded, "Do not try to open your eyes."

"But it tickles," Kagome giggled loudly, not paying attention to her mouths proximity to sensitive ear, earning a flinch from the inuyoukai.

"Hn," Sesshomaru replied before returning to healing her face.

He spent minutes going over the flesh that surrounded her eyes, much longer than any of the other injuries. When all that was left were her eyelids, he went over them as slowly as possible. He could smell Kagome's pain spike – the scent had nearly melded with her own at this point, however he was sure that the medicine was making it so she was feeling only a fraction of the pain. Kagome's short groan of pain confirmed what his nose had already told him; the light pressure on her eyelids was causing her much more pain than what he had already done.

Finished with her eyes, Sesshomaru moved himself so he was kneeling near her feet. Running a hand down her leg, he inspected the broken bone to see how it was healing. He felt her shiver as his hand ghosted over her leg, but she didn't seem to be in any more pain than before. While Sesshomaru didn't know much of human medicine and healing times, he had to assume that it was healing significantly faster than normal. While an injury like this might take him a day at the most _if _it wasn't the only injury, he had heard of broken bones taking months or longer for humans to heal. At this rate, Kagome would be walking in a fortnight at the latest, most likely much sooner.

He wasn't sure what was causing it to heal so fast – his saliva only worked to cure surface wounds, not broken bones. At least not that he knew of. Possibly Tenseiga had sped up the healing process or maybe it was a combination of that and her reiki. Whatever it was, he wasn't sure he would ever know the real reason. All he cared was that she would be able to walk and go on her way all that much sooner.

He pulled her legs apart so he could have access to the wounds on the insides of her legs. On Kagome's broken leg one long wound went from her ankle all the way up the inside of her leg, stopping barely more than an inch from the top. He traced it with his tongue, holding her leg when she tried to close it as he got closer to the top.

Kagome let out a deep breath as he stopped, but not nearly soon enough in her opinion. She didn't even want to think about having Sesshomaru's head between her legs. Or anyone's head for that matter.

Kagome was thankful when Sesshomaru stopped before her knee on her right leg. The burns there were caused by sporadically splattered poison, but didn't go very far up her leg.

She could hear the shifting of leaves as he stood, but she was suddenly too tired to care. Her body felt like lead as she relaxed into her fluffy bed, closing her eyes.

Sesshomaru crossed the camp to gather fresh bandages, however, before he was able to make it to where they sat near the fire, he heard Kagome's breathing shift. She had fallen asleep, spurred by the insanity of her day and the medicine he had given her.


	9. Passing Time

I hope you guys like this chapter. I worked really hard on this one to improve my writing and add more details (this chapter is probably almost 1000 words longer than the original). Please let me know what you think. Also, I didn't get very many reviews last chapter, so I was worried you guys didn't like it.

As always, big thanks to Kayelyn for all the help.

**Chapter 9: Passing Time**

Stirring from her sleep, Kagome moved to take a big stretch but stopped half way. She was stiff and _sore. _Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew why, but couldn't quite remember through her sleep induced haze.

Reaching up to rub the sleep out of her eyes but finding bandages in her way, she immediately recalled the previous day's events.

_I was killed by Naraku's incarnation several days ago. Sesshomaru revived me. He gave me a bath_, she blushed at this, _then he _licked _me, _she finished running over the events her mind, her blush growing darker and darker as she did.

The last thing she remembered was Sesshomaru licking her, but he must have replaced her bandages while she slept – she could feel their steady presence all over her body. She was almost glad that she wasn't awake for that; she didn't know how much more… contact she could have handled at that point.

With any other man she would have worried that he would have taken advantage of her bare form while she slept, but if Sesshomaru was anything he was honorable. Some would say honorable to a fault, but whatever the case, if he told her he wouldn't touch her – which he did in his own way – she could trust him not to.

She was resting against the same soft pillow – which she could only assume from the size and texture was Sesshomaru's moko-moko – and was once again covered in his oversized kimono. The strong smell of the earth and trees that surrounded her was accented by the light coating of morning dew. It damped the outside of the kimono that blanketed her, but the inside was thankfully still dry.

She pushed herself up the best she could so her back was leaning against the pelt that looped behind her, and started feeling around her. A light coating of dirt covered her hands as she brushed them over the forest floor, searching to see if Sesshomaru had left her anything this morning. Sure enough, she found another small cup of tea, this time accompanied by a large container she assumed held water, and a piece of meat.

The tea was warmer than the day before, leaving Kagome guessing how Sesshomaru knew to make the strong, slightly bitter, green tea at the right time. She sipped it, still trying to clear the sleepiness from her head, something she was finding more difficult than usual. Perhaps it was the fact that she didn't have the sun to tell her that it was morning, and thus time to get up. She had been waking at dawn for a long time now. Inuyasha always insisted in getting moving as early in the morning as possible, and if they didn't he would complain about being behind for the entire day. So, she had programmed herself to wake with the sun, something that proved much easier than she had thought it would be.

She had enjoyed watching the sunrise on days that she woke early enough. On days that she didn't – which was admittedly most of the time – she spent the morning enjoying the birdsongs that greeted the morning, sometimes sketching the birds as they danced around amongst the branches if she had extra time for one reason or another.

Drawing was something Kagome learned that she was actually good at if she put her mind to it. She started by doing it just to pass the time, quickly finding that it was a good way to show her family the beauty of the feudal era without having to explain a camera to her friends. When she was in the feudal era for a long period of time, she brought drawings of her family and the modern era. She had several sketchbooks full of drawings of various details, and always had at least one in her pack at a time. Some were 5 minute doodles, others she spent hours on, painstakingly bringing to life each feather and leaf with her trusty set of colored pencils.

Turning her attention back to her breakfast, she finished her meat quickly. She had woken fairly hungry, all she had to eat the day before was the small portion Sesshomaru had given her prior to her treatment. He had offered her another piece afterwards, but she had fallen asleep before she could ask for it.

Of course, this train of thought brought Kagome back to thinking about the treatment she got the day before. Kagome really _really _hoped she didn't need any more treatments. Or baths for that matter. All the sensations had overwhelmed her, and her reaction was embarrassing to say the least. She was sure that Sesshomaru had noticed despite her efforts to hide it – he was a daiyoukai after all – although she hoped he never brought it up.

_It's not like I could have controlled it, _she told herself. _He was licking me, and you have to admit that he is… well made… to say the least. _It didn't matter if she hadn't been able to see him; her mind decided to suddenly supply a Technicolor picture for her, complete with shirtless Sesshomaru. Granted, she wasn't sure of the accuracy of the picture, saying she had never seen Sesshomaru without his kimono on.

Kagome could feel her skin heating as she blushed bright red. She really wished she had some mental eye bleach, not that the image was unpleasant, but she knew her mind would bring it up at the worst possible moments from now on.

With a sigh, trying to distract herself from her previous thoughts, Kagome decided to check if her begrudging protector was still around, "Sesshomaru-sama?"

A trademark "Hn" came from approximately where he had been yesterday. She could only imagine him sitting in the same way he always did as he watched over Rin. He would have his back up against a tree, knee bent, arm resting on it. However, this time he wouldn't have his moko-moko over his shoulder, nor would the long sleeves of his kimono trail towards the ground, she reminded herself as she redrew the picture in her mind. This of course, resulted in more mental pictures of a topless Sesshomaru, something she didn't need at the moment.

"What time is it? How long have I been asleep? If you don't mind me asking of course…" Kagome inquired, trying to do anything to avoid making any more mental images of the Lord. She added the last statement just to make sure she didn't start off the day by putting Sesshomaru in a bad mood.

"It is early morning; the sun is still low in the sky. You fell asleep just before sunset yesterday," he replied, studying her. He had noticed the blush that still tinted her cheeks and the embarrassment that hung in the air but he ignored it for now, not caring to know what caused it.

Even though she seemed to be doing better than she had the day before, he knew she would not be ready for travel for several more days. Many of her injuries were too raw to allow her to sit for a long period of time on Ah-Un, and if her leg was jostled too much it risked being reinjured. Once she was healed enough, he would return to his castle and leave her care to servants as it should be.

Sesshomaru could already tell it would be a long several days. While he didn't mind spending idle time – he had had learned how to avoid boredom before he reached 100 years old – he wasn't fond of spending his time with humans. Rin was an exception, Kagome on the other hand, he found particularly obnoxious.

She talked far too much, and always about mundane things. If he asked a simply question about one of her peculiar possessions he would get a long winded answer that, while answering the original question, ended in explaining the intricacies of something that was only vaguely related as well.

She did have a few redeeming qualities that made it easier for him to be in her presence. The big one was that, unlike most humans, she bathed on a regular basis. He also had to admit that her natural scent was pleasant – something that was extremely important for inuyoukai – especially when combined with her strange soaps. Furthermore, she was polite, always addressing him with the proper honorifics and making an attempt to follow customs although it was painstakingly obvious nobody had spent the time to teach her them. She had said that her people had different customs and norms, albeit having some similarities since they originated from the same belief system. The extent of her education was something he respected as well. Many women weren't educated, but she seemed to have many odd books on things he hadn't even heard of.

If Sesshomaru wasn't too stubborn to admit it, he would have realized that his list of 'redeeming qualities' was far larger than what he found annoying about her. But he was, so much so that he refused to admit that Kagome wasn't even doing the one thing about her he found annoying.

Instead, she sat in silence, spending her mornings as she always did. When birds chirped happily to each other, she imagined they were gossiping about their friend's new boyfriend, and when one made a particularly angry squawk it was because said friend had overheard. She entertained herself for hours, writing a story in her head about bird society including loving families, broken hearts, and romantic couples. If she couldn't draw, she figured she might as well use her creative abilities for something else.

There was only so much time she could spend on this without running out of ideas. So, sometime around noon she decided to attempt to strike up a conversation with her silent companion.

"What do you think of when you're sitting around?" Kagome inquired.

"Hn?" Sessomaru's usual answer seemed to have a slight question to it, almost asking Kagome to explain her question.

Or at least she assumed that's what it meant. "Well, I mean all the times Rin was visiting you sat around doing nothing but watching Rin, and again, now you sit doing nothing. You must be thinking of something to pass the time," she elaborated.

"This Sesshomaru has many years to reflect upon," he replied. Kagome waiting for him to elaborate further, but when he didn't she realized that attempting a conversation with the Lord of the West would be practically impossible.

Quickly giving up, Kagome spent the better part of the day trying to figure out what to do. After all, she would have to figure out _something _to occupy herself with if she was going to be blind for the rest of her life. After she somehow defeated Naraku, she would return to her era where the options were plentiful. In this era however, she couldn't learn to read braille or listen to TV when she was bored. She would spend much of her time listening to her surroundings, learning to adapt to a world full of nothing but blackness.

Completely lost in her thoughts, Kagome didn't notice the quickly approaching aura. But, of course, Sesshomaru not only sensed the approaching youkai but smelled the scent of the hunt on it as well, telling him that this youkai was planning on attacking.

Standing, Sesshomaru flared his youki, warning the quickly approaching youkai of his presence. Even though the youkai continued to charge, he didn't feel the need to draw his sword. This was a lesser youkai, it would be easy prey.

Kagome snapped her head up, moving it around as if searching for the disturbance. She had felt the pressure of her protector's youki and immediately knew something was wrong. He had released enough youki to scare anybody in their right mind – and harm some humans – but nowhere near his full potential.

"What's out there?" Kagome whispered seconds before the approaching youkai crashed through the trees. Trees snapped, leaves crunched, and then a large hiss filled the clearing. She knew it had to be a youkai, she could feel its weak youki now, but Sesshomaru had yet to answer her.

It was a snake-like youkai in fact, barely even a threat to Sesshomaru. He called forth his green whip, lashing out towards the invader. It was cut into ribbons before it even had a chance. Not that it ever would have.

"What was that?" Kagome asked again, sensing that the threat was now gone.

"A lesser youkai," Sesshomaru stated as he worked on removing the body. He didn't want to have to smell its putrid scent any longer than he already had.

It wasn't the only youkai to attack either. Before nightfall, three other suicidal youkai attacked, and just as he did with the first one, he killed them before they could do anything. Just like the first one, they were extremely weak youkai that even trained humans could have killed. Normally other youkai left him alone, they would have to be plain stupid to attack him, and he could only assume that the presence of the weakened Shikon Miko was driving them mad. Even though she didn't have any jewel shards on her, the act of killing such a powerful priestess would seem like a show of power to some.

Kagome was used to being attacked on a regular basis for her shards, but not this regular. Youkai and humans alike were scared off by Inuyasha once he gained a reputation for his sheer power. Even though he was hanyou, over the years that they had spent fighting Naraku and protecting the shards, he had become a formidable opponent. And, she reasoned, they should have been even more frightened by Sesshomaru – even though Inuyasha was strong, his brother was still much stronger.

Now, more than ever, she was glad that Sesshomaru hadn't abandoned her. If he had, she knew she would be long dead.


	10. A Dark Place

Sorry that this chapter is short. I've been super busy with school stuff, I have a 12 page paper I still need to put the finishing touches on and 2 finals next week so I might not be able to update for a week after this. But please review and let me know what you think.

Thank you Kayelyn for all the help.

**Chapter 10: A Dark Place**

It was two days after the first day they had been attacked, and the attackers were only growing stronger.

This time the attacker actually made Sesshomaru draw bakusaiga – something that had yet to happen before now. Of course, as soon as he did so, the bat youkai was dead.

They had fallen into a fairly comfortable routine. Kagome would wake and drink her tea – which she had figured out contained some sort of medicine yesterday – and near her tea would be some sort of food, usually meat. Shortly after she woke she would ask the time of day then the pair would fall into silence.

Occasionally their silence would be interrupted by an attacking youkai, but the intrusions never lasted long. This time, like always, Sesshomaru cleared the body from their camp then returned to sitting in silence by his tree.

Kagome was getting really _really _sick of sitting around in silence. No matter how hard she tried, Sesshomaru wouldn't answer any questions that he didn't feel were absolutely necessary.

Today, she'd been picturing the Tokyo skyline, her parent's home and the area that surrounded them. She prayed that she would be able to defeat Naraku and return home soon, but even so, these would be pictures she would never see again, which is where she was when her thoughts were rudely cut off by the attacking demon.

Returning to trying to burn the images of her home into her memory, she tried hard not to think about people she would never _see _again. But she failed, and her thoughts fell into sadness.

She would never see Souta, Mama, and Jii-chan age and change. The pictures she had of them now were the ones she would hang onto forever. As Souta matured, went to high school, even when he had his first girlfriend, the only picture her mind would know would be of a little boy.

Sure, people could describe him to her, or she could feel her features to try to paint herself a picture, but nothing would be the same as watching her younger brother grow.

At that really was the point wasn't it? _Nothing _would be the same. Kagome's life had changed forever. She could learn to adapt, learn to live her life as it is now, but it wouldn't be the life that she lived for the first 18 years.

What would she do when she recovered? What would she be doing in a year? Five? Ten?

Would she be able to defeat Naraku, or would Kikyo have to be the shard detector, Kagome permanently sidelined? Would she get married, have children? Not likely. Who would want a scarred blind girl?

At one point she had planned to stay here – her chance at a decent education, and job in her time was ruined – marry Inuyasha and live her life with her friends that she travelled with for so many years. But Inuyasha had Kikyo now, he made that clear, nor would Kagome want to burden her friends with her disability. They had a long happy life ahead of them but she wasn't destined to be part of it.

Anyways, if she returned to her times she could learn to read braille, and use other services available to the blind. She could study on her own, obtain an education, and find a job. But how much longer would she be stuck here, where doing such things were unheard of?

If she could ever return home that was. She had made a promise to herself, to the universe even, that she would defeat Naraku once and for all before she went home again. The battle had already dragged on long enough, too many people had died because of her 15-year-old moment of stupidity that broke the jewel. She made the promise 6 months ago, just after her 18th birthday, and so far was no closer than before.

Sure, she missed her family, but she couldn't disappoint them any longer. At the time she thought that defeating Naraku would be easier if they didn't constantly have to return to the well so she could stock up. Now, it would be difficult either way.

She told herself that she could learn how to fight or maybe Inuyasha and the gang would be able to defeat Naraku without her. But she knew she was lying to herself.

Kagome fought back the tears that threatened to surface. She refused to cry over an unknown future and stolen dreams. She was blind. She would deal with it.

Sesshomaru could smell the tears and sadness emanating from Kagome, but said nothing. As long as they didn't affect him or drive her to stupidity, her emotions didn't concern him. After all, human emotions were entirely too complicated.


	11. Dressing

Sorry for the delay in updates. Good news is that I am not done with summer quarter and classes don't start again until the end of September so I should have a ton of time to write. Bad news is that my family's cat that we have had since I was very young is very sick (dying really, he has FIP) and I may not be in the mood to write depending on what happens.

Thank you all for the reviews, I really appreciate them.

**Chapter 11: Dressing**

It was three days after Sesshomaru felt the spike in Kagome's sadness, and he had yet to feel it go completely away. Thankfully, they could return to his castle now and somebody else could deal with her problems. But something in the back of his mind was telling him that she was _his _responsibility, that it was his duty to care for her. He reasoned that servants would be able to do a fine job taking care of her. She was human, she wasn't worthy of his care anyways.

Although, she was no ordinary human. She had proven herself as a powerful miko, albeit untrained. She had fought against Naraku and had more success than some youkai. Yes, she was stronger than a weak youkai, but still much weaker than him and thus not worthy.

Giving Kagome quick look over, he could tell that most of her wounds were healed over, except for the spider burn on her chest and the burns on her eyes. Her leg was healing quickly, as Sesshomaru suspected. While she couldn't walk yet, she could put some weight on it if she used a large tree limb to support herself.

She had insisted on doing this as much as possible as soon as she was able. She would stand and stretch, in one hand holding a large straight tree branch that he had found for her and holding his kimono over herself the best she could with the other. Occasionally she would let out a small hiss from pain, otherwise spending her time in silence.

She never asked for anything except for necessities that she couldn't get herself – like food and water. Not once had she complained about her situation after the first day. Her silence shocked Sesshomaru; he never thought the previously chatty, constantly busy, outgoing woman would sit silently for hour on end. But she did, only asking essential questions.

He watched as Kagome went about her morning routine, waiting for her to finish before he told her the plan. She seemed to be moving especially slow today. If he was a human, or even a lesser youkai, he might think his impatience to return to his home was just making him think she was going slowly, but he was a daiyoukai. Sesshomaru could _never _be impatient. So he simply decided that she was in no hurry to complete the same actions she did for the past five days.

"We will be leaving this camp today and heading to the west," he announced when she took the last bite of her meal.

"The west?" She asked, not able to think of a more intelligent response. Kagome had been wondering how long they would stay in their camp, but she didn't think they would go to Sesshomaru's domain. Rather, she assumed that he would use his inu sense of smell to track down Inuyasha and the rest of the group so he could be freed of his burden. Perhaps her friends had traveled to the west? But he had said that he didn't know where they were.

Sesshomaru considered not giving her parroted question an answer. He had obviously stated that they were going to the west, if she didn't understand, that was her own issue. Instead, he chose to clarify, "We will go to my home, where I will return to my duties and a servant will care for you."

"Oookay then, when will we depart?" Since Kagome didn't necessarily want to return to Inuyasha after what he'd done, she chose not to argue with him. If Sesshomaru wanted to provide for her care, then so be it. Anyways, while he hadn't been particularly sociable, he did care for her, and seemed to respect her human needs. Unlike Inuyasha, who had frequently pushed their group past their limit, even after one of them was injured in battle.

"As soon as you are decent," he replied. "You are to put this one's kimono on properly, as I do not have other clothes to offer you."

Kagome nodded in response while Sesshomaru walked the short distance to Ah-Un's bag that contained his under kimono, armor and obi.

Sesshomaru could have offered Kagome to wear his under kimono, but the controversy in his court over a woman appearing wearing not just his clothes but his _under clothes _would be unimaginable.

So, Sesshomaru shrugged on his plain white under kimono while watching Kagome try to stand so she could put on his kimono. He then used a spare strip of bandage – it wouldn't show under his armor anyways – as a makeshift obi so his under kimono would stay in place. By the time he was done securing his armor, Kagome had just managed to don his kimono.

"Umm, Sesshomaru-sama, what should I use to hold it shut?" Kagome inquired, holding the kimono shut while trying to straighten it the best she could. It was an awkward procedure, saying she couldn't actually see where the kimono was lopsided, only guess by the weight and fit. Not to mention the kimono was huge on her and she had to hold the stick she leaned on in one hand. She really wished she had an extra pair of hands right now.

At this, he handed her his obi, since it was the best item to hold the kimono shut in an appropriate manner. The kimono was so large on Kagome that the extra length of his obi would come in handy for holding it shut. However, this also meant that the obi that was fitted to be long on the tall youkai lord would be ridiculous on her.

Kagome silently grabbed the obi and attempted to wrap herself in it. Unfortunately, she didn't get very far. His obi was _much _longer than any other obi she had used, not to mention Kagome just wasn't used to wearing traditional clothes. She wore them occasionally when she was in the feudal era, but usually preferred to wear modern clothes. While she had long since scrapped her middle school uniform, the clothes she'd been wearing since she temporarily moved to the feudal era weren't much different. She had a truck full of skirts, shorts, and tank tops along with warmer clothes when she needed it that she stored in Kaede's hut along with other modern essentials.

She tried again, but this time she nearly tripped herself on the trailing length of fabric, getting it tangled in her clumsy injured leg and makeshift crutch.

Getting impatient, Sesshomaru snatched the fabric from her hands, and after a quick command to put her hands out to the sides, started to tie it around her. He wrapped it around five times; making sure the excess fabric of his kimono was contained to prevent it from falling down at her shoulders. The obi went from just under her breasts to just over her hips, covering the lower half of her upper body before ending in an elaborate bow behind her back, long ends trailing down towards the ground. He had added the loops he customarily wore along his sides as well in order to prevent the ends from dragging on the ground. He had considered tying it in the front like he normally did – he picked it up from his dad who got it from the mainland – but he knew that if women tied their kimono in the front it gave off a bad impression. He was trying is best not to set off a myriad of rumors.

Kagome felt absolutely ridiculous in Sesshomaru's kimono. The sleeves engulfed her hands and the ends stopped only inches from the ground. The bottom of the kimono had been dragging on the ground, but Sesshomaru had somehow managed to lift up some of the excess fabric when he tied the obi to make it a more appropriate length. The obi itself was tied in a way that made it look wide, wider than even the modern style, but would not become popular for some time in this era. She was sure she was a sight to behold, and would have been entirely embarrassed if she could see herself, but as she couldn't, it was easier to ignore.

Sesshomaru wasn't sure if he liked the effect of his kimono on Kagome or not. It was certainly a change from the strange outfits she normally wore. While she swam in it, it also gave her a look of elegance that he hadn't thought he would ever see on her, although the look was partially negated by the white bandages that still covered her face. It unfortunately screamed that she was his, an unintended, but unavoidable consequence.

Leaving her leaning up against the tree, he grabbed his moko-moko and settled it on his shoulder before heading back to the packs. It smelled of Kagome and the earth that it had been resting on for the past week, a not too entirely unpleasant combination. The familiar presence comforted him. He'd had the pelt since he was very young, this being the longest time he could remember not wearing it.

He organized all of their possessions that were scattered around the camp, including the yellow backpack, into the saddlebags.

Sesshomaru had let Ah-Un wander the vicinity after he'd delivered the bandages but had called him back this morning. Saddled and ready to go, the only thing that remained was place the bags on his back.

With a swift motion, the final task was completed, and Sesshomaru led Ah-Un to where Kagome was still waiting.

"You will ride Ah-Uh," Sesshomaru announced, before lifting the unsuspecting miko to sit astride the two headed dragon's back.

"Okay," Kagome acquiesced, although obviously her opinion didn't matter.

Sesshomaru took hold of Ah-Un's reins, and then took to the sky, his youki cloud forming under him.


	12. Flight

I'm not really happy with this chapter, I didn't spend as much time on it as I would have liked to. Anyways, please still send me reviews, I really appreciate them.

**Chapter 12: Flight**

Kagome freaked out the minute they left the ground, flailing and searching for a better grip. Sesshomaru said she would be riding Ah-Un not _flying! _In her panic, she nearly fell off the two headed dragon, but quickly found handholds. She wished he had given her a warning, but it wasn't even worth it to complain. He never paid attention to her opinion on matters anyways.

Kagome had flown on Kirara before, but this wasn't the same. She was fine with riding Kirara but now, not having the visual clues, flying was a much different experience.

She couldn't tell how high up she was, or distract herself by watching the scenery go by. Instead, all she had was the wind in her face to tell her they were moving fairly quickly, but no way to tell how exactly how fast or how far she was from the ground.

She took a couple deep breaths and calmed herself. Sesshomaru would not let her fall after spending all this time and effort to make sure she didn't die again. That would be pointless.

That thought alone was enough to make her stop panicking. Now, calm enough to think coherently, she asked "How long until we reach our destination?"

"We will be at my home in one day's time," Sesshomaru answered, not giving any more than was asked for as always.

Kagome was surprised at this. While she didn't know where Sesshomaru's home was, she knew it must be in the west and she also knew that when she was attacked, she was a fair distance away from there. She surmised that they must be traveling at a quick pace but tried not to think about that too much lest she freak herself out again.

Instead, she decided to listen to what was going on around her in order to train herself to stop being so reliant on her non-existent sight. She'd been practicing during their time in the forest but flying was completely different. There wasn't any plant litter on the ground to rustle when something moved and the familiar noise of animals scurrying around in trees was far below them, mostly out of earshot.

The most persistent noise was the rattling coming from Ah-Un's pack behind her. Other than that, and the occasional passing flock of birds, it was relatively silent.

Since the sounds weren't working to distract her, she tried to picture the beautiful scenery she was passing over, wondering if it was trees, fields or a town. Enjoying the view used to be her favorite activity while flying but since it wasn't an option anymore, she would do the next best thing.

As they passed a particularly chatty bunch of birds, she pictured the trees they would be sitting in below. At the sound of flowing water, she would imagine a beautiful blue stream, winding its way through the landscape.

This kept her entertained for quite some while, she didn't even notice the time flying by. They had stopped twice so she could relieve herself and grab a bite to eat, but she couldn't have guessed how much time had passed between the stops.

She didn't even notice the chill in the air as night started to fall. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, had been watching her begin to shiver, and subconsciously curl closer to Ah-Un for warmth.

She had been sitting in silence all day, like she'd been doing the last five days. Sometimes he wondered what she was thinking about during those times. He could smell her moods fluctuating so quickly sometimes, from happy to sad to angry, or from boredom to curiosity.

As Sesshomaru watched her, she began to nod off, her hands slipping from where she was holding on.

"Miko," he called.

Her head snapped up, but her posture remained slouched as evidence to her exhaustion. "Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?" She answered with a yawn.

"If you fall asleep, you will fall off, and I have no intention of having to catch you nor do I plan to stop."

"So what do you propose? Obviously I won't be able to stay awake until we arrive."

Sesshomaru knew this. Kagome had been sleeping longer than most humans, since the still healing injuries were depleting her energy. He also knew that even if she could stay awake until they reached his home, it would be detrimental to her health and the last thing he needed was for her to get sick.

So, with a sigh, he settled on Ah-Un's back behind her, Kagome too tired to care at this point, and reached around her to grab the reins.

"Rest, Miko," he commanded, barely finishing before she fell into a deep sleep.


	13. Home

Thanks for all the reviews, you guys are awesome. I hope you like this chapter, please let me know what you think.

**Chapter 13: Home**

Sesshomaru woke Kagome when his home was in sight. Although, calling it a house would be a vast understatement, really. It was a castle befitting a lord of his status, nothing less.

Once he was sure Kagome wasn't going to fall off, he returned to his post at Ah-Un's heads. He wouldn't be seen riding on his dragon behind a human woman. Not that arriving with a human woman wearing his kimono in tow would be much better. Oh well, he would just have to do damage control.

Ah-Uh started throwing his heads about, prancing as much as he dared to with his delicate passenger. Even the two-headed dragon had missed his home – it had been so long since they had a chance to return, and the whole thing with Kagome had only delayed him.

Once they were spotted, the guards below shouted to each other and rushed around, trying to get in as much order as possible before they landed. Jaken ran in circles, barking at the guards in his usual ridiculous nature. Apparently his servants had been slacking off without his presence.

The minute they hit the ground, everybody hushed. Eyes flickered from him to his new companion. He was sure they were wondering who Kagome was and why she was wearing his kimono. Giving no answers, he turned to Jaken who was running towards him.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" Jaken cried.

"Jaken, you will have the miko taken to a guest room," Sesshomaru started, stopping Jaken from going off on a rant. He used Kagome's title to let the servants know that she wasn't some ordinary human. "Then tell the healers to look after her injuries and find a servant that will care for her," he commanded, before walking off towards his rooms, leaving Jaken behind with a very confused Kagome.

Kagome, stiff from being on the dragon for so long and realizing that Sesshomaru was no longer around, slid off, trying to land gracefully on her feet while keeping as much weight as possible off her bad leg. Unfortunately, all she managed to do was land on her butt in an embarrassing heap. _Way to make a good first impression,_ she scolded herself.

Ah-Uh, being the caring dragon he was, leaned one of his heads down and helped Kagome up. She gave a quick word of thanks while trying to brush off the dirt she was sure was stuck to her backside.

Before she had time to finish, a servant walked up and grabbed onto her arm, causing Kagome to jump in surprise; she'd been distracted and hadn't noticed anybody approaching. Grumbling about bad manners, she tried to pull her arm away but whoever had a hold of her wasn't going to let go. So, when the servant started to pull her behind them, all she could do was follow the best she could with her injuries.

_Apparently, _Kagome thought, _being rude is one of the requirements to work for the almighty Sesshomaru-sama._

Kagome tried to keep track of how far they were walking and how many turns they were taking, but at the pace she was being dragged at she quickly gave up. By the time they made it to their destination, Kagome was thoroughly pissed off. When the servant tossed her down on the futon, she really, really wanted to swear at her, or hit her.

But Kagome knew that would be very stupid. Most youkai wouldn't think twice about killing a human that acted out, and she doubted that this one would be any different. After all, Kagome had heard all that Sesshomaru said, and it obviously didn't include anything about not harming her.

So, she simply huffed, then arranged herself on the futon the best she could as the servant left without ever saying a single word to her.

It wasn't long before the sliding of the shoji doors alerted Kagome to a visitor. She snapped her head up, listening for footsteps to tell her where her visitor was. When she didn't hear any, Kagome couldn't help but ask, "Who's there?"

"I am the healer sent by Sesshomaru-sama to look after you," a soft female voice responded from about where Kagome guessed the doorway was.

Kagome gave a quick nod, acknowledging her presence. At this, the healer moved to Kagome's side and spoke again, "Miko-sama, I must remove your clothes in order to inspect your wounds. Is this acceptable?"

Kagome was distracted from the healer's question by her use of the honorific. She had never had a youkai call her 'miko-_sama'_. Perhaps the healer misunderstood why Kagome was here?

"Miko-sama?" The healer repeated, breaking Kagome from her thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, yes that's fine. It's not mine anyways," Kagome answered, then added, "Please call me Kagome."

"Okay, Kagome-sama," the healer said as she kneeled behind Kagome and began undoing her obi.

Tired of sitting in silence all the time, Kagome decided to try to talk to the friendly seeming healer. "What is your name?" She inquired, starting with the basics.

"It is Rei, Kagome-sama." Rei finished untying the obi, and started to unwind it from around Kagome, releasing the extra folds of the kimono that Sesshomaru had tucked underneath.

"What type of youkai are you Rei-san, if you don't mind me asking that is?" She continued her questions, glad that Rei didn't seem entirely opposed to talking to her. Although, she wished she would stop using 'sama' but she couldn't exactly force her.

Rei tidily folded the long obi and set it aside as she replied, "I am inuyoukai, however most here are not. We are few and far between these days."

Kagome let Rei pull the oversized kimono off her. "Then why do you work as a healer? Surely, as an inuyoukai in The West you could have a better job?" Kagome had learned from Inuyasha that The West was historically the kingdom of the inuyoukai, and even though many youkai lived there now, inuyoukai were still the highest ranking. Except hanyou, he had explained, they were the lowest.

"Yes, I could, if I wished. However, I like helping others and it is an honorable job if nothing else."

Rei was undoing the bandages now as Kagome thought up more questions. As the bandages came off, they revealed the injuries under them, although from her position behind Kagome, she couldn't see many of the injuries.

Finished with what she could reach from where she was, she moved so she sat in front of Kagome. From here, with every bandage that came off, she could see more and more of the damage. The spider scar, the still healing burns over her eyes, the random spattering that covered her body, everything.

"Kagome-sama, do you wish to bathe?" Rei inquired politely once she decided it wouldn't exasperate the injuries.

Kagome was reminded of the first day she woke up in their camp, when Sesshomaru bathed her. She hadn't been given a chance to take a bath since then, so she was grateful for the offer. "Yes, please!"

Rei let out a small smile, then wrapping her in a simple yukata, helped her towards the baths.

Unbeknownst to Kagome, she was being watched by anybody who could get away for a moment to do so.


End file.
